How to Operate Your Main Water Shut-Off Valve?

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Introduction

Learning how to operate your main water shut-off valve may prove to be pretty useful to you in future. The process of learning how to operate a water shut-off valve starts with knowing where the valve is located. Mostly, contractors fix these valves in house corners or inside the walls of a house.

Know About Water Shut-off Valve

The planning arrangement in your house will help to locate the position of your shut-off valve. However, its location mostly depends on the model and design as well as the property line of your house. These include:

a) Meter Location

Some homes have their water meters located inside, outside, or alongside the property line. Water meter is always near a shut-off valve.

b) Home Construction Design

This includes designs such as crawl spaces, basements, and also slab-on-grade.

c) Presence of Water Shut-off Handles

These include round wheel handles and lever handles. Presence of such handles in any location inside your house may indicate the location of a water shut-off valve.

Knowledge on various parts in your house will help you in locating and operating your water shut-off valve. The valve may be located in the foundation valve, near water heater, or under the kitchen sink.

How Should Your Choose the Valve to Operate?

Where a house has fire sprinkler systems, you should be careful not to while selecting the right valve for your home. In such an incidence, be sure to select the home water valve. Leave the fire sprinkler system untouched. Such homes have double shut-off valves. However, homes with no fire sprinkler have single water shut-off. This is the valve that you should target working on.

How to Close the Main Valve?

Use the round wheel handle to close the valve. Using the round wheel handle, turn the valve around in the clockwise manner. Closing the valve may take two full revolutions using the handle. Ensure that the level handle valves stop at a quarter turn and not parallel with the pipe.

Open both hot and cold faucets at the sink or tub. Ensure that you relieve pressure and check the shut-down on the sprout. Then, open the faucets fully in order to drain the collected water. When draining this water, be sure to turn-off the energy source in order to prevent energy loss as well as risks of electrical shock.

How to Open the Main Valve?

While opening the main valve, you need to close the faucets. However, you should not close the faucets for the sink or tub on the highest level. Use the handle valves to open this point. Turn the round wheel handle until it reaches a half revolution. Also, ensure that it is leveling at a half of a quarter turn for the lever handle.

While water continues to flow, proceed to turn off the highest open faucet. Observe the water pressure equalization through listening. After the water noise ends, open the main valve. Release the air that was held in the faucet and proceed to all other faucets until they are over. Throughout this process, ensure that you are safe from any risks by turning-off the power source.

Conclusion

Water system can spoil any time of the day or night. Without knowledge on how to operate water shut-off valve you may not be able to carry on water system repairs effectively. Therefore, learning how to operate your main water shut-off valve is an essential skill that may help you in future.